Unpopular plans for a three-storey student accommodation block in Odd Down have been withdrawn by the developer.
The scheme was for a “student cluster unit” of 15 bedrooms at the rear of 9 Upper Bloomfield Road, where there are currently 14 garages and an outdoor parking area for up to eight vehicles.
Developer Westlea Holdings Ltd had said in their application to Bath & North East Somerset Council that the area surrounding the site is largely residential but with a range of local facilities.
No parking was being proposed for students, but the plans included secure covered bike storage plus two car spaces for the management’s service vehicle and for disabled users’ needs.
Lib Dem councillors Steve Hedges and Joel Hirst, who represent the Odd Down ward, had received several concerns about the application and said they were disappointed that there had been very little community engagement prior to it being submitted.
They had asked for the proposal to be brought to a planning committee to allow residents to raise their concerns in person, but the plans ended up being withdrawn last week.
Concerns raised had included the access being too small for service vehicles, that the development would be out of keeping in the neighbourhood, and that the expectation that it would be a zero car development was “unrealistic and difficult to enforce” in an area already at parking capacity, with the loss of any more risking a “devastating impact” to the local shopping area.
The ward councillors also highlighted the impact to neighbours, saying the privacy of back gardens would be permanently “blighted” by the development.
“In addition, the height of the development and expectation of parties and the like which students’ development have will impact of the tranquillity of the existing residents.”
The councillors said the overall balance of the neighbourhood has historically been for families but that has been eroded by the growth in numerous HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) and two purpose-built student accommodation blocks at the end of Oolite Road on the Wellsway.
The proposed development would further shift the balance in an area not geared up for students, they added, and highlighted that the area is poorly served by public transport to the university sites.
